About the theme

Teen Tech Week 2009 is about connecting teens with fun aspects of technology. Visualize the library as a technology playground and the possibilities begin to materialize. Teens can literally press play on digital devices such as mp3 players and gaming controllers. Play can be about creating videos, music, and digital artwork. Play through games can be encouraged with tournaments, tech triva contests, and video games. In a nutshell, Press Play @ the library means fun, creativity, and battling boredom.

Why Celebrate Teen Tech Week?

Teens, in order to gain the skills necessary to compete in today's job market, need access to digital and online information and trained professionals who can help them use these resources effectively, efficiently and ethically.

Nearly 1 in 4 youth aged 8 to 18 do not have Internet access at home.

A June 2007 study conducted by Harris Interactive for ALA found that one-quarter of teens who regularly visit the public library and nearly one-third who regularly visit the school library said their primary reason is to use the library's computers for fun.

Multiple studies have shown that the majority of teens lack the critical thinking skills and technical expertise to use the Internet and other electronic resources effectively.

Activity Ideas

Press Play ideas

Hold your own film festival with either Teen created movies, movies shot locally, or on a specific theme. Get teens to be the judges by letting them create awards ceremony or vote for their favorites.

Morph the faces of teens and their favorite celebrities, musicians, authors, or friends with Morphthing.com.

Recycle old electronics and other junk from the around the house into a "junkbot" with the book JunkBots, Bugbots, and Bots on Wheels: Building Simple Robots With BEAM Technology, by David Hrynkiw and Mark Tiden.

Promote a "YouTube swap" in which teens sign up and share their favorite online videos via a projector.

School Friendly Tech

Internet Scavenger Hunt

Have teens complete an internet scavenger hunt, in which they use a combination of suggested resources and open searching to answer a series of reference questions. Create questions that introduce teens to recreational and educational websites and databases, and for open search questions you can gather information about their favorite ways to search online. Hand out raffle tickets for correct answers, and at the end use the scavenger hunt to impart searching strategies they could have used to find the answers more efficiently.

Literary Remix

Print first paragraphs from teen books onto printable magnet sheets and cut them into individual words. Challenge teens to create new works from the old, but without having a single word left over.

Poster Polls

Put up posterboards with open questions and let teens respond to them. Create questions that make teens think about the role of technology in their lives (e.g., "How do you listen to music?," "What is your favorite online game?," "Who is your favorite game character?," or "What are the best movie adaptions?") or give teens the opportunity to create posters asking their own tech-specifici questions. You can also add online polls to your website through Snappoll.com or Pollpub.com.

Procrastinator's Toolkit

Do you have a lot of teens waiting until the last minute to do their homework? Show off your "open 24 hours" web resources with a folder full of flyers that highlight the databases and online resources most useful for teens. Market it as the "procrastinator's toolkit" and add blank pages with a template for teens to add their own favorite resources.

New-School Classics

Host a Gaming Event

Hold a video game tournament, meet-up, or free play session for teens. Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Halo, and the Madden football series are popular choices for tournaments. If portable gaming systems are popular in your area, encourage teens to play against each other on their Sony PSP or Nintendo DS handhelds. For more information on tournament play, listen to Eli Neiburger's presentation from the 2007 Gaming in Libraries Symposium, "Tournament Games for Any Occasion: Choosing the Right Games for Your Audience."

Custom MySpace Workshop

Provide an opportunity for teens to decorate their spaces using templates from various online resources, such as Create a Blog or Killer Kiwi, or--for the more advanced teens--completely from scratch thanks to tutorials from Squidoo or the book Amp Your MySpace Page, by Eric Butow and Michael Bellomo (2007). Follow up with a MySpace Fashion Show where teens show off their decorated spaces. Invite parents to attend the event and use the workshop to teach Internet safety skills.

Revamp Your Web site

Gather some teens and get their input on how to bring your library’s website up-to-date through free embeddable services. Add a Flickr badge, include RSS feeds for new books through LibraryThing, implement easy podcasting with Gcast or library videos on Youtube, Vimeo, and Blip.TV, or poll teen interests with online polls. Incorporate teens in creating the new content, and ask them for their favorite gaming sites, online comics, and more to help bolster your links.

Tech on a Budget

Game Design Workshops

With the help of such free programs as 3D Adventure Studio, Game Maker, and RPG Maker XP, turn your teens into game designers without spending a dime! Let their imagination run wild or challenge them to create a game that utilizes library and information-seeking skills.

Computers Inside Out

Partner with a local custom computer or computer repair business to give teens a look inside a computer. Teens can learn the different parts that make up a computer and build one hands-on with donated materials solicited through services like Craigslist or Freecycle. You can then donate your created computers to local teen shelters and detention centers.

Tech Partners

Contact your local news and radio stations, local organizations, or even school technology clubs to bring their equipment and expertise to your library. Your local news stations may be interested in teaching teens about filming and editing. Your local radio station can teach teens how to deejay. Local clubs and tech-based organizations can have teens participate in their most recent projects. Many of these organizations will happily bring their programs to your library for in-kind promotion.

Tech in the Stacks

Put up a book display of different books with tech themes. Keep your display stocked and attractive by printing out covers of checked-out books with a note that says "This book has been snatched by another reader, ask the librarian about placing a hold on this title." You can also use our downloadable template to create bookmarks highlighting the books on display, and for further inspiration searching Flickr for "Teen Tech Week display." To go the extra mile, challenge teens to create their own projects based on those of the books and highlight them as part of the display.

Take your game tournaments to the next level by playing online against other libraries. Just like with regular tournaments, games like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, Halo, and Madden 2009 make for great interlibrary play. Wii and Playstation 3 play online for free, while Xbox 360 charges a fee for its more robust Xbox Live service. Check out the Ann Arbor District Library's free GT System software to develop a thriving web presence centered around your interlibrary play.

"Real World" Games

Through the magic of GeoCaching, develop a real-world treasure hunt in your community. Or you can let your imagination soar with a massive, real-world urban game or alternate reality game featuring cell phone, text messages, e-mails from librarians, GPS coordinates, research skills, digital photography, and more! Through these "real world" games, you can take teens on a wild ride through many different media and lead them on adventures in their own backyard.

72 Hour Film Festival

The 72 hour film festival asks teens to incorporate a single common prop, phrase, location, and/or theme in a short video. The trick is that the that the video must be written, filmed, and edited within 72 hours. This is an ideal program for Spring Break or long weekends, as most contests start on Thursday evening and debut the films on Sunday night. Look for notable judges in your community and show off the films in style with a well-decorated exhibition.

Teen Tech Tutors

Do you have teens who need community service hours or just love to help the librarian? Consider using them as technology tutors for senior citizens or for elementary school students. Set up a dedicated time or use screen capture software to have teens create how to videos and printable tip sheets for using your catalog, accessing databases, using software, social networking, setting up an email account, or any other assistance the members of your community may need.

Additional Activity Resources

Good Better Best Handout

At the ALA Midwinter Meeting in 2005, YALSA held a large Kick-Off celebration for the first annual Teen Tech Week. One of the resources distributed was the "Good Better Best" program handout (PDF). The handout gives examples of different Technology library programs for teens, from good to the very best.

Get Connected: Tech Programs for Teens

The book Get Connected: Tech Programs for Teens is a compilation of tech programs from YALSA and compiled by Rosemary Honnald. The book offers detailed snapshots of the most cutting-edge technology-oriented programs sure to draw teens into the library – and keep them reading and accessing library resources. Topics include recreation- and education-based programs, working with special teen populations, drawing young readers in the social networking scene, tips for working with teen advisory groups, and YALSA’s innovative ideas for celebrating Teen Tech Week! Both novice and tech-savvy young adult librarians will find this book an essential resource for connecting with their patrons. Purchase from Neil Schuman or look up the library record on Worldcat.

Sample PSA

:30 seconds

Press Play @ Your Library® March 8 – 14! Think the library is all about books? Think again. The library is also about blogs, podcasts, gaming, music, and more. Stop by [insert name of library or school] or visit our Web site [insert URL] during Teen Tech Week to tune into these technologies.

Sponsored by [name of library and school].

:10 Seconds

Get Connected @ Your Library® March 8 – 14!

Think the library is all about books? Think again. Drop by [insert name of library or school] to tune into blogs, podcasts, gaming, music, and more. Sponsored by [name of library or school].

Sample Letters to the Editor

The following are sample letters to the editor from a teen and a parent.

Sample Proclamation

write sample proclamation here

Get the Word Out: 10 Ways to Promote Your Events

Here is a checklist to help you spread the word about your library's TTW events and programs:
1. There is a TTW display in my library
2. TTW is featured on my library's web site, blog and/or MySpace page
3. Information about TTW is in my library's winter newsletter
4. All library staff are knowledgeable about my library's TTW activities
5. Relevant local organizations have been informed about TTW and your library's TTW activities, such as the community center, 4-H club, area schools, parent organizations, etc.
6. Local VIPs such as town council members and/or state legislators, have been invited to attend any special TTW events
7. Local media outlets such as newspapers, radio stations and TV stations have been informed about TTW and your library's TTW activities via a press release (see sample press release)
8. My Teen Advisory Group (TAG) is involved in promoting TTW by writing letters to the editor, making a commercial for the public access channel, designing and posting flyers, creating and uploading a short informational video for You Tube, recording and distributing an audio Public Service Announcement, etc.
9. I or my TAG have asked my town council and/or state's governor to declare March 6-14, 2009 Teen Tech Week in my town or state (see a sample proclamation on the TRW web site)
10. I have designated a member of my TAG or someone to be the photographer at my TTW events, and I will distribute the photos by posting them on the library's web site or Flickr account, sending them to the local newspaper and sending them to American Libraries at americanlibraries@ala.org.

Templates for Flyers

Here the Teen Tech Week Committee will share a few templates that you can download to create your own Teen Tech flyers.